Improvement in tickets



B. M 0RSE.

TICKET.

N 17o,e3s Patented 1m. 7,1875.

Conductors Gheck, N 0.

Good only for the passage of the person to whom it ls glvemun the Road, Train, and Trip where 15 it given, and between the Smtlons indicmed by pnuchmarkepade by the Conductor,ln the presence of the Passenger.

vsow ntl'uuuj I'IHACA & ATHENS R. R.

7:30 A. M- TRAIN- FRUM I'IHm) SAJRE.

'1. SEELEY, Conductor.

MPETERS. FHDTO-UTNOGRAFNEH, WASNINGTON. 0 C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BEN MORSE, OF ITHAGA, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN TICKETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 170,686, dated December '7, 1875 application filed I July 14,1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BEN MORSE, of Ithaca, Tompkins county, New York, have invented a certain Railroad-Gonductors Check-Book,

; 2 3, &c., drawn from n downward to thefoot-' of which the following is a specification My invention relates to a conductors account and check book, made with leaves folded together, one of which is larger than the other, and is used as a check or ticket, and the other is retained permanently in the book as a leaf of record or account. Each of these parts has devices on it suited to each, and my in vention will be apparent as I describe it.

Figure 1 is a plan of my four-parted sheet,

, ready to be bound in my book, but executedin detail only on the upper half of it, the lower part being left blank to receive theother figures on it, for the sake of compactness of the drawing. Fig. 2 is a view of my bound; book, and is shown as partially used; and Fig. 3 is a plan of my ledger-account in the? end of my book.

In Fig. 1, a a a are the outlines of my sheet, showing the corners b I) cut out; and 0 is one of the check or ticket parts of it; and c is another check or ticket, represented as left blank, but designed to be like 0, except in its number 5 and d d are the permanent record or account leaves. On the checks or tickets 0 c (supposed, for example, to be prepared for the Ithaca and Athens Railro' d,) are the names of the stations, as Ithaca jg ick Brook, 850., at which the train stops, and a triangular table, of the fares or tarifl between the stations, and also the following subject matter: Oon ductors check, No. Good only for the passage of the person to whom it is given, on the road, train, and trip where it is given, and between the stations indicated by punchmarks made by the conductor in the presence of the passenger, Ithaca and Athens R. It, 7.30 train From Ithaca to Sayre, T. Seeley, conductor.

The letter A shows the series of books to which it belongs, and No. 2 the book of the series A; or the hook is indicated, as will be stated presently. I

On the account or record leaf d or d, and other such leaves, is the same triangular table g as was at g on the check or ticket part, but printed with its base toward the base of the same table on the check-leaf c, and also numbers are substituted for the names of the stations, to save room. At the right hand of this triangular table are lines for numbers 1 ing-line m, and from Z, in the same manner, journal-lines for dollars and cents. A line for dates, as June 24th, 1873, is also shown. Both check 0 and the permanent leaf or record (1 are numbered alike-as, for example,

200. The lower half of the sheet is printed reversed, and is' first folded by the line e e, and next by the lineff. This brings both the upper and lower parts correctly in the bound book, and the checks are thus folded on the record-leaves, so that punching a check, as at j, shall at the same time correctly punch the record-leaf at j, and the same of j and j.

Fig. 2 represents my bound book with a portion of the checks used or torn out, and the leaves of the record remaining in the book, and thus the use of the corners b I) cut out is apparent, as it causes a blank space, 1), to appear in the book, which enables the conductor to turn readily to the next check to be used.

The cover of my book has printed or written on it as follows: A No.2, the series and number of the book in the series, (Jonductors account and check book, or its title, I. & A. R. It, or the name of the road, From Ithaca to Sayre, or the direction of the train. lteceived by T.See1ey, conductor, J une 24th, 1873, or date, and conductor entitled to use the book; 7.30 tram, or the train on which it is good. This subject-matter being on the cover makes it unnecessary to print it on the leaves of record left in the book. But A is printed on the record-leaves in order to recognize the series to which a leaf belongs, if by accident it is torn out. And I bind, preferably, one hundred or other even hundreds of checks and leaves in one book, commencing by printing on the first check and its leaf two ciphers 00, and one cipher with the number, as 01, 02, 03, &c., until 10 is reached, and so on to 99 for the first book in a series, as A, B, &c., and then begin the second book of the series by 200, as in Fig. l, to 199, when the third book begins with 300, &o. By this arrangement the two right-hand figures of any page in any book, or of any check, indicate the page from whence the checkwas taken, and the left-hand figure, (as 2 or 22, 8tc.,) or

two record-leaves alike. and hence the checksneed not be collected. from the passengers to whom they have been given.

Fig. 3 is a portion of a ledger-leaf from the end of my book, and it is understood without explanation.

I My preferable method of using my invention or book is plain and easy. The first passen ger the conductor finds in the cars with unpaid fare-for example, on the 24th of June, 1873 --says'he is goingfroni Sick Brook to Hedges, and pays his fare. The conductor then punches the check, as c, No. 200, of Fig. 1, as seen at j and j, which, as the check and leaf are foldedon each other by the lever e e, at the same time punches the leaf at 2 and 10, the numbers of the stations. By the triangular table both passenger and conductor knowthat sixty-six cents is the correct fare. The conductor then tears out the check from K to the the line 6 e, at e, and thence along the line e e to 0 when he gives the check to the passen ger, and leaves the record-leaf in the book. So on with all other passengers, to each he gives a check punched in a corresponding manner. Now, suppose he has during the trip thirteen such passengers, and gives out thirteen checks. This brings him to page 212, or the twelfth leaf of the second book of series A, as before explained, when the conductor journalizes the trip thus: The last check sold was from the twelfth station to the thirteenth station; fare, twenty-five cents.

This he enters on leaf 212, or twelfth page of book second series A, when it will appear opposite No. 1, twenty-five cents, as shown by the lines a and l,- and the next to last check sold w as torn from page2l1, from station eleven to twelve, for fifty cents, which he enters opposite No. 2 of lines a l, and so on until he reaches the twelfth number, against which he enters the first check (the 200 of Fig. 1) for sixty-six cents, when he adds up the-sum, and puts beneath the footline m, as $6.59. Now, he turns to the ledger-leaf, and enters, as shown, date, June 24th, page 12 (or 212), No. (sold) 13 amount, $6.59. So of the June 25th trip, which exhausts the book of checks to page 26, and so on to the end of the book.

If it is desirable to use the same book for the return-trip a punch at the apex of the triangular table at j also punches the leaf at a. A punch-mark in any part of the check indicates by its shape or letters-as, for example, S. G. (sleeping-car)-that the fare in a palace or sleeping car has been paid between the stations, punched in the right-hand margin of the check, and left-hand margin of the record-leaf. And so, also, of .other uses and advantages of my invention, as will be apparent to those skilled in the employment to which it appertains.

I claim 7 i 1. The conductors check-book, consisting of the sheets at, having tables g g, and the portions or corners b b removed, and with a line of perforations,e e, impressed on them, substantially as set forth.

2. The sheets at, having the tables 9 g, and the portions or corners b b removed, and with lines of perforations k e" and e" e impressed on them, thus being adapted to be bound into books for railway conductors use, as set forth.

BEN MORSE. Witnesses:

SAMUEL J. PARKER, A. M. LUCAS. 

